'Real' bitcoin creator: 'I am not Dorian Nakamoto'

Satoshi Nakamoto denies he is the founder of bitcoin after Newsweek tracked him down, reports CNBC's Becky Quick.

An online social account for the creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, sprung back into life Friday morning after a five-year hibernation amid growing speculation about his identity.

The username Satoshi Nakamoto used an online forum for the P2P Foundation - an organization that studies peer to peer technology - to introduce the virtual currency with a single post back in 2009. The same user returned on Friday morning in an attempt to deny a 4,500-word cover story in this week's Newsweek magazine.

Newsweek claimed that the creator of bitcoin was a 64-year old Japanese-American living in California called Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto. But Friday's comment on the P2P Foundation website - using the Satoshi Nakamoto username - simply stated: "I am not Dorian Nakamoto."

This denial comes after news agency AP reported on Thursday that Dorian Nakamoto - whose birth name was Satoshi Nakamoto - had rebutted claims that he had anything to do with bitcoin. However, he did acknowledge that many of the details in Newsweek's report were correct.

On Friday, the magazine issued a statement strongly defending the story and the work of its writer, Leah McGrath-Goodman.

"Ms. Goodman's reporting was motivated by a search for the truth surrounding a major business story, absent any other agenda," Newsweek said in a post on its website. "The facts as reported point toward Mr. Nakamoto's role in the founding of bitcoin."

Reporters camped outside Dorian Nakamoto's house on Thursday before Nakamoto appeared from his two-story home in the early afternoon. Speaking to reporters on his doorstep he said that he was not involved in bitcoin and opted to travel with a reporter from the AP for a "free lunch".

"I'm not involved in bitcoin. Wait a minute, I want my free lunch first. I'm going with this guy," Nakamoto said pointing to the reporter, according to Reuters.

The media followed Nakamoto as he travelled by car to a nearby sushi restaurant, before leaving and heading downtown. Los Angeles Times reporter Joe Bel Bruno followed the pair and described the incident as a "bitcoin chase" in a running stream of tweets.

Satoshi Nakamoto has caused much debate in the bitcoin community since releasing his white paper on the virtual currency back in 2009. His software protocol was the foundations for the cryptocurrency that is used worldwide today. Bitcoin has received international attention in recent years with the price soaring over $1,000 in November. It's a "virtual" currency that allows users to exchange online credits for goods and services. While there is no central bank that issues them, bitcoins can be created online by using a computer to complete difficult tasks, a process known as mining.

House in Temple City, California, identified by Newsweek magazine as the residence of bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto.

"Satoshi is part of the folklore of bitcoin... he is a hugely important figure," Jonathan Waller, a developer at startup incubator BitcoinEAST in Japan, told CNBC via telephone.

There is still some disagreement whether Satoshi is one person - whether male or female - or in fact a group of people and this latest comment on the P2P Foundation did little to quash any rumors. Waller told CNBC that he believes that the fresh comment on Friday was by an administrator at the P2P Foundation wanting to "take the heat off" of Dorian Nakamoto.

Inventor of bitcoin discovered

Leah McGrath Goodman, Newsweek senior writer and finance editor, discusses how she was able to track down Satoshi Nakamoto, the father of bitcoin.

"If Satoshi wanted to reveal himself, then there are much better ways that he could do it," he said.

Meanwhile the Bitcoin Foundation, a body that aims to help protect and promote the digital currency, said it had seen "zero conclusive evidence" that the identified person in the Newsweek article is the designer of bitcoin.

"There is never a dull moment in bitcoin," Jeff Garzik, part of the core development team at the foundation wrote in a blog post on Thursday.

Father of bitcoin found in Calif.

CNBC's Bertha Coombs reports infamous bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto, who wrote the software that eventually paved the way for the virtual currency, has been tracked down in California.

"Satoshi's identity may or may not be revealed in time....Satoshi is unlikely to be sitting on a beach in Tahiti, next to a multi-million dollar mansion. Satoshi is unlikely to be prepared for determined, potentially violent thieves and curiosity seekers. Curiosity in Satoshi's identity is understandable, but please consider responsible disclosure, and the danger such a revelation may generate."